It Can Always Be Better

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Acne on Models

When working on models with severe—or noticeable acne—you'll find the most difficulty with lighter skin. The reddening from inflammation, along with the natural "blush" found with most light-skinned people, requires more than just "Clone-Stamping" or "Healing Brushing" it away.

Unretouched acne

Retouched acne

Nor can you rely fully on various blur and smoothing methods. If you do it this way, you'll end up smearing the reddish tones throughout the face.

You actually need to make the color of the red areas (such as the cheeks or nose) like the color of less red areas (such as temple and upper forehead). Then start your hard retouching with removing pimples and other marks.

Using a photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop, I suggest removing the reddening with the Paintbrush Tool in "Lighten" mode. To do this, sample a non-reddened area (3x3 or higher sample sizing) with the Eyedropper Tool. Next, choose the Paintbrush Tool with a very soft-edged, large brush and paint away the reddened areas. Depending on which areas of the face you are working on, you will need to adjust the Opacity of the Paintbrush and its size.

When you are satisfied with the work, then remove the acne and scarring.